ABSTRACT
This paper aims to analyse Nigerian students’ meaning making process with regards to the concept of respect and its manifestations in the online international and multicultural class by raising questions of cultural identity, socio-economic status, gender, ethnic, family and educational backgrounds. It aims to open up a democratic process of inquiry in online international higher education by giving the opportunity to adult learners with different cultural and ethnic upbringings to express their perspectives about respect in online learning environment from the stand point of their local educational culture. The study follows hermeneutic phenomenology (van Manen, 1997, Creswell, 2007) in the research design from a multidisciplinary angle combining cultural anthropology (Hall, 1996, Hannerz, 2001, Coleman et al., 2010) and online education (Anderson, 2008) in the research. The context chosen is that of a UK degree (University of Liverpool) and their online international postgraduate degree programmes. The first phase of the qualitative research focused on Nigeria and pointed at the educational experience of Nigerian students using one of the most prominently emerging themes in the interview process, that of respect as a hermeneutic interpretative framework. The findings showed that the national or ethnic cultural identities that guide respectful behaviour are subjects of the individual meaning construction process. The findings demonstrate how Nigerian students (with special attention to the Yoruba culture) create their own meanings of respect in the online class. Regardless of their ethnic background, each student highlighted the importance of respecting elders and people in an authoritative position. Students felt that their ethnic upbringing contributes to the way they act in class and communicate with students and instructors. The findings also show some strategies that Nigerian students choose in order to avoid disrespectful behaviour. The paper suggests that online higher institutions should be more aware of the cultural and ethnic diversity of the Nigerian student population and highlights that their different cultural and ethnic upbringings require differentiated support, in order to avoid risks of cultural colonization in the virtual learning environment.
Keywords: Online learning, Cultural anthropology, Hermeneutic phenomenology, Cultural identity, Respect, Nigeria.